Friday Afternoon Science by Strategic Calls

Friday Afternoon Science

COLOR & LIGHT

Developed at the University of Rochester with support from the A.L Mailman Foundation, The National Science Foundation and The US Department of Education.

Friday Afternoon Science Introduction

What is Friday Afternoon Science? Friday Afternoon Science is based on ScienceStart!, a comprehensive preschool curriculum that involves daily investigations of the everyday world. These investigations focus on science topics and follow a simple science cycle. Children develop a rich knowledge base at the same time they use and develop reasoning skills. Each science activity is deliberately designed to also support the development of language, literacy, and math. Friday Afternoon Science is based on the same design principles as ScienceStart! but with weekly rather than daily investigations. It provides a way to easily incorporate science into whatever curriculum is being used, be it the teachersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; own curriculum or one that is commercially available (for example, High Scope and Creative Curriculum).

Friday Afternoon Science has been developed in collaboration with preschool teachers. It offers a research based and theoretically sound way of addressing the need to include more science and math in early childhood education. And, best of all, young children find it exciting and are eager to participate in each investigation.

Friday Afternoon Science Introduction

A Science Cycle Guides Each Investigation Reflect & Ask Teachers lead a discussion of what the children already know about a topic. Then they read aloud a children’s book that leads to additional discussion of the topic. During this discussion, the teacher models and invites questions about the topic, for example “What do you think could happen if. . . ?”

Plan & Predict Teachers support children in planning an investigation to help answer their questions. This is followed by a discussion of how to carry out the planned activity and the materials needed. Teachers encourage children to make predictions about the outcome of the activity. All answers are accepted and recorded on the easel paper. Now: “Let’s see what happens!”

Act & Observe Children carry out the planned activity. Teachers will often model the activity during group time, but it is important that each child/small group does the activity. Teachers and other adults in the classroom will guide/support children in doing the activity, talk about what they are observing, and so forth. There are many ways that this portion of the science cycle may unfold.

Report and Reflect Teachers guide a discussion of what the children observed and learned. It may be appropriate to compare findings to initial predictions. There are many ways to report and document the day’s investigation. These include: A chart or graph summarizing the results, A poster with photos, A classroom book that combines photos, drawings, children’s dictation A group contribution to the teacher’s letter home about the day’s activities, Teachers have a wealth of knowledge about many other ways of doing this!

Friday Afternoon Science Introduction

10 Week Supplemental Series

Color & Light Background Knowledge for Color and Light Light allows people to see. Colors are one of the things we see. When there is very little light – like in a dark room or a closet – people see mostly black and gray with very little color. There is probably a little light in the closet and we can see the large objects – a suitcase or the clothes on hangers, but it is hard or impossible to see small objects – like a pencil on the floor or even a pencil in our hand. Of course, all children experience light and color. The activities in this book are designed to help children move beyond their passive experience: to become more consciously aware of light and color, to understand some basic phenomena such as how shadows are created and how combining two colors can create a third color, and to acquire the vocabulary to talk about color and light. This goes far beyond the typical goal for preschoolers to “learn their colors.” Our experience using ScienceStart! with hundreds of teachers and thousands of children is that three- and four-year-olds are interested and eager to learn about these topics. Parents have reported – with surprise – that their children come home from preschool wanting to talk about primary and secondary colors or about the differences between transparent, translucent, and opaque. One time a reporter from the national publication Education Week visited a ScienceStart! classroom. As she walked into the classroom - about an hour later than expected - it was snack time and the teacher was serving clear Jell-O. The children had never seen clear Jell-O

Friday Afternoon Science Introduction

before. One child said, “It’s transparent!” Another child said, “No, it’s translucent, you can’t see right through it.” We assured the reporter that this was not “staged!” The first four activities in this book are about learning color names and how mixing primary colors produces secondary colors. Three lessons are devoted to color mixing – using colored water, colored cellophane, and colored clay. Replication – doing the same thing and getting the same result – is an important part of science inquiry. Repetition is an important part of learning for everyone, and especially for preschoolers. One experienced ScienceStart! teacher said that a lot happens when children are exposed to the same thing repeatedly. She said, the first time they think it is interesting, the second time they are beginning to understand it, the third time they are beginning to “really get it.” Investigations of light make up the second part of this book. Even though we all experience light every day, young children have probably not had a chance to “step back” and think about light or learn ways to talk about it. These investigations enrich their everyday experience of light by providing information about what light is, how it helps us see, how it moves, how it makes shadows when its movement is blocked, and how light shining through water droplets can magnify images. The sun is the major source of light on Earth. Other sources include stars and fires and manufactured items such as lamps. Flashlights will be used as a way for children to investigate light and dark. Light travels in a straight line. When it hits a shiny or reflective surface, it bounces. When we look into a mirror, the light bounces almost straight back to us. But when we shine a flashlight at a mirror lying on the floor or a table, the light bounces away from us. The direction it bounces depends on the angle of the light hitting the surface of the shiny surface. Children can spend a long time investigating this quality of light and can use flat shiny surfaces like mirrors or smooth foil, or a rougher shiny surface like a piece of foil that has been crumpled and then

Friday Afternoon Science

Introduction

flattened out. While they are doing this, they are subconsciously also learning about angles and geometry. When an object blocks light, a shadow is formed. The size of a shadow depends on the distance from the object to the light. The closer an object is to the light, the larger the shadow will be; the further away an object is from the light, the smaller the shadow will be. Objects like metal and cardboard that block light completely are opaque. Objects like window glass and eyeglasses that let most light come through are transparent. In between are objects that are translucent â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they let only part of the light come through. Examples include sunglasses, wax paper, and some bathroom windows. Remember to use lots of language, including the vocabulary words, when you do these investigations with the children. With time and experience, the children will begin to learn and use the scientific language and the steps involved in the science cycle.

Friday Afternoon Science Table of Contents

10 Week Supplemental Series

Color & Light Table of Contents Week 1

Water Colors ……………………………………………………… Page 5

Week 2

Color Cubes …………………………………………………………Page 9

Week 3

Colored Clay……………………………………………………….Page 13

Week 4

Sun Catchers……………………………………………………….Page 17

Week 5

Night and Day…………………………………………….....…….Page 21

Week 6

What Can Light Move through?.............................Page 25

Week 7

Shadow Play……………………………………………….……….Page 29

Week 8

Bouncing Light……………………………………..………...….Page 33

Week 9

Water Magnifier………………….…………………….……….Page 38

Week 10

Shadow Theater………………………………………………….Page 42 About the Developer………………………………………….Page 47

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 1 Water Color

Week 1

Water Colors Material Clear Plastic Bottles with Caps one for each child or pair of children. Food Coloring red, yellow, and blue Water Flashlights Picture & Funnel (optional)

Books

Cat’s Colors, Jane Cabrera

Vocabulary red yellow blue mix Shake observe/watch predict food coloring

Colors, Heidi Goennel

funnel

Of Colors and Things, Tana Hoban

future

The Color Kittens, Margaret Wise Brown

Math Support children in counting aloud as drops of food coloring are added to the water bottles. Make a chart that shows the primary colors across the top and, across the length, the children’s clothing in primary colors. (For example, you might find that there are fewer red than yellow colors.) 7 Copyright© 2020 ScienceStart-All Rights Reserved

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 1 Water Color

Science Concepts Addressed Color and Light are Important Aspects of our Everyday World Optional: Mixing Primary Colors (Red, Yellow, Blue) Creates Secondary Colors (Orange, Purple, Green)

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 1 Water Color

Using the Science Cycle to teach “Water Color”

Reflect & Ask Read and talk about one of the suggested books. Use this as a foundation to talk about color as a way of introducing today’s science activity. Lead a discussion about color. Where do we find colors? What would things look like if we couldn’t see color? Why do we wear clothes with colors? Why don’t we all dress in just white or just black? On easel paper, draw three large circles – red, blue, and yellow. Ask children to look around the room and find something red. Write the child’s name and the name of the object under the red circle. If children remain engaged, repeat for yellow and blue, otherwise move on. Have the children look at their own and their classmates’ clothes. Help them find examples of red, blue and yellow clothing. Write these on the easel paper.

Plan & Predict

Show the children the bottles of plain water and the containers of food coloring. Talk about food coloring and what it is used for. Plan how to use food coloring to make bottles of colored water. Preview the activity. Using two bottles and one color, add the same number of drops to each bottle and demonstrate how to screw the cap on. Tell the children to watch carefully – what is the difference if you shake one bottle hard and just let the other bottle sit still for a little while?

Act & Observe Help each child or pair of children select a color to add to their bottle. (You can prefill each bottle with water or you can help children use a funnel and pitcher to fill their own bottles.) Help children add 3-4 drops of food coloring to their bottle and screw the cap on. Have some children shake their bottle right away and some wait to let the food coloring “drift.” Have children look at objects through the bottle. What do they see? Turn out the classroom lights and have them shine a flashlight through a bottle of colored water. What happens?

Report & Reflect Talk with the children about the activity and record the discussion on the easel paper. What did they find out when they added food coloring to water? What was the difference between shaking it right away and not shaking it? What happened when they shone a flashlight through the bottle of colored water? Optional: Support the class in dictating/writing a report of the activity. Post this report on the wall and/or send it home to children’s families.

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 1 Water Color

Music Color Hokey Pokey Do the “regular” Hokey Pokey to be certain all children are familiar with this activity. Tape/glue construction paper circles onto children’s hands, feet, and other body parts.) Sing and Act Out You put your red circle in, you take your red circle out, You put your red circle in, and you shake it all about! You do the Color Hokey Pokey and turn yourself around That’s what it’s all about!

Extend this lesson with other activities If you want to add more activities with primary colors in the following days, you could: Ask the children to predict what would happen if they added two colors to a bottle of water. Try it and find out. Talk about and write down what you learn. Talk about whether the findings matched the predictions. Give the children squares of red, yellow and blue colored cellophane and have them look through them, shine a flashlight through them, layer two pieces and look through them. Talk about and write down what you find out. Have red, yellow, and blue paint available. As the children what would happen if they painted with two of the colors. Let each child select two colors and paint. Talk about and write down what each child learned.

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 2 Water Cubes

Week 2

Water Cubes

Vocabulary Ice

Material

Melt

Four ice cube trays

Primary Colors

water

Secondary Colors

red, yellow, and blue food coloring

Green

paper cups

Orange

paper towels

Purple

3x5 cards markers (red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple)

Books

Harold and the Purple Crayon, Crockett Johnson Hello Red Fox, Eric Carle The Colors of Us, Karen Katz

Math

My Crayons Talk, Patricia Hubbard

Count drops of food coloring as you prepare the ice cubes. Talk about how combining two things sometimes makes something different. Use the + and = signs on the index cards to show the result of combining two colors; talk about the meaning of these signs. 11 CopyrightÂŠ 2020 ScienceStart-All Rights Reserved

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 2 Water Cubes

Science Concepts Addressed Color and light are important aspects of our everyday world Mixing primary colors (red, yellow, blue) creates secondary colors (orange, purple, green).

Ahead of Time

The day before, with the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s help, fill four ice cube trays with water. Leave one with clear water. Make one tray each of red, blue, and yellow by adding food coloring to each compartment. Freeze overnight.

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 2 Water Cubes

Using the Science Cycle to teach “Water Cubes”

Reflect & Ask Read and talk about: My Crayons Talk by Patricia Hubbard Look at the trays of ice. Give each child a clear ice cube to hold and observe melting. Talk about how water freezes and melts. Ask the children what they think will happen if they let two colors melt together? Write down their answers.

Plan & Predict

How can we melt two ice cubes together? Can we use cups? Can we use paper towels?

Act & Observe Have each child choose two different colored ice cubes and put them in a paper cup. On a 3x5 card, draw circles with their two colors. Observe and describe the ice cubes as they melt. Have the children pour a bit of melted water from their cup onto a paper towel. What is the new color?

Report & Reflect Draw the new color on the children’s cards. Use plus and equal signs and talk about what they mean Ask the children what they think would happen if they used three ice cubes. Try using two blue and one yellow and compare that to one blue and one yellow. Try mixing all three colors together. Record these combinations on 3x5 cards. Have each child describe their results and write these on their 3x5 card, along with their name. Use the cards to make a poster or other wall display.

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 2 Water Cubes

Music Show Me Your Colors Red, red is the color I see. If you are wearing red then show it to me. Stand up, turn around. Show me your red then sit back down. (Repeat with other colors)

Extend this lesson with other activities Other Activities to Explore Mixing Primary Colors

Paint with tempura paint in the primary colors As a small group or individual activity, use red, yellow, and blue colored cellophane and clear contact paper to make a collage to hang in the window. Fill a spray bottle with colored water and use it to spray in the water table or, if you have snow, spray the snow. Provide netting or translucent scarves in primary colors and use them for dress-up or dancing.

Put red, yellow, and blue water in the ice-cube trays and have children use pipets to mix these colors.

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 3 Colored Clay

Week 3

Colored Clay Material Yellow, blue and red play dough 3x5 cards crayons or markers

Vocabulary Play dough mix equal size primary colors secondary colors red

Books Little Blue and Little Yellow, Leo Lionni

blue yellow green

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle

orange

The Color Box, Dayle Ann Dodds

purple

All the Colors of the Earth, Sheila Hamanaka

brown

Math Talk about combining two things to get something different. Use the + and = signs on the index cards to show the result of combining two colors. Talk about the meaning of these signs.

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 3 Colored Clay

Science Concepts Addressed Color and light are important aspects of our everyday world. Mixing primary colors (red, yellow, blue) creates secondary colors (orange, purple, green). This works with play dough just like it does with colored water (replication).

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 3 Colored Clay

Using the Science Cycle to teach “Colored Clay”

Reflect & Ask Read and talk about: Little Blue and Little Yellow, Leo Lionni What kinds of things can we do with play dough? Using a picture of a rainbow, ask what colors would we need to make a rainbow out of play dough. During this conversation, record relevant information on the easel paper.

Plan & Predict

Can we make a new color like in the book Little Blue and Little Yellow? What colors do we need? How could we mix the colors? Start by having children make suggestions for mixing, then as appropriate, introduce the words roll, twist, knead, and squish. Again, record relevant responses on the easel paper.

Act & Observe Put out the play dough. Ask the children which primary colors you should use. With crayons, draw two circles of those colors on a 3x5 card. What color do you think we will get? As children suggest different combinations, pull off a small part of the two primary colors they suggest. Mix together until you have a new color. What color is it? If the children are old enough, they might be able to vote on which combination would match the story. Put your new play dough on the card. Use a crayon to draw a circle of the new color on the card. Repeat for all combinations of primary colors.

Report & Reflect Talk about the story and how it matches today’s science investigation. As time allows: (or another day) Talk about what would happen if: We mixed two colors together but put in more of one color than the other? We mixed three colors together? Record these answers on the easel paper. When possible, try out these predictions and compare the results to the predictions

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 3 Colored Clay

Music Colors of our Clothes Mary wore a red dress, red dress, red dress. Mary wore a red dress all day long. (Change the name and color and article of clothing to match different children in the class)

Extend this lesson with other activities Other Activities Paint with poster paints in the primary colors Finger paint with shaving cream (add food coloring to the shaving cream) Paste red, yellow, and blue crepe paper on a piece of white paper to make a collage Make rainbows with the new (primary + secondary) play dough colors

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 4 Suncatcher

Week 4

Suncatcher Material Clear contact paper colored cellophane (blue, red, yellow) scissors

Vocabulary Suncatcher light shine through change red

yarn

blue

hole punch tape

yellow green

Books Who Said Red?, Mary Serfozo Rainbow of Your Own, Don Freeman The Color Box, Dayle Ann Dodds Going Up, Peter Sis

purple orange transparent/clear translucent opaque

Math As children cut the cellophane into pieces talk about words that describe size â&#x20AC;&#x201C; bigger, smaller. Before they begin cutting, help them count the number of pieces/colors of cellophane they have. 19 CopyrightÂŠ 2020 ScienceStart-All Rights Reserved

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 4 Suncatcher

Science Concepts Addressed Light can shine through/move through transparent and translucent materials, but not through opaque materials. Overlapping two translucent colors can create a third color.

Learning Goals Children actively participate in a teacher-led Science Cycle, using relevant cognitive and language skills. Children hear the words teachers use to identify colors. Children hear the words teachers use to talk about what light can move through (transparent/clear, translucent, opaque) Two colors can be combined (in this case, layered) to create a third color.

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 4 Suncatcher

Using the Science Cycle to teach “Suncatcher”

Reflect & Ask Read and talk about: Who Said Red?, Mary Serfozo Have you ever seen colored glass or plastic? What happens when you look through it? Take time to talk (and write on the easel) about how light passes through some objects and is blocked by other objects. Use the clear contact paper, the colored cellophane, and a piece of cardboard to demonstrate these differences. Use just the light in the room and then a flashlight. What are the differences? The children should get to hold and look through each, with and without a flashlight. (It may be best to do this in small groups while the children are making their individual suncatchers.) Work with children to find objects around the classroom that are clear/transparent, translucent, and opaque. List these on the easel paper.

Plan & Predict

What will happen when we put different colored cellophane together?

Act & Observe The children will make suncatchers from contact paper and cellophane. Cut the contact paper into squares (6 in. x 6 in.) and give one to each child. Give every child a square of each color of cellophane and support them in cutting it into small pieces. Work with children individually to remove the contact paper backing and put the pieces of cellophane on the contact paper until it is all covered. Encourage them to overlap the pieces. Once it is covered, hold the contact paper up to a light and talk about/look at the three squares of original cellophane being in primary colors. Look carefully at the contact paper to see if there are any secondary colors. What about where three primary colors overlapped? When the children are finished talking about their suncatcher, punch a hole near one edge and tie a piece of yarn through the hole. Hang in a window to let the light shine through.

Friday Afternoon Science What color light is coming through our suncatchers? What would happen to our suncatchers on a cloudy day? Color and Light Week 4 Suncatcher

Music “Mr. Golden Sun” Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun Please shine down on me Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun Please shine down on me Please shine down on me

Extend this lesson with other activities If possible, follow-up by looking at some examples of “stained glass windows” or “stained plastic (glass) objects.” Dollar Stores often have trinkets made of stained plastic, some preschools are in or near churches with stained glass windows Make a “color viewing tube” by putting one or two or three pieces of cellophane on the end of a cardboard tube and using a rubber band to secure the cellophane. Have the children look around the room through the telescopes (three primary colors, three secondary colors, one combining three primary colors). Talk (and write) about that they see though the different viewing tubes. As a tabletop activity, children can add one color of glitter to one color of paint; expand as desired. Talk about what happens. Dress up and/or dance with sheer scarves or netting in primary colors. Talk about what it looks like. Do combinations of the scarves create different colors? Place spray/misting bottles filled with colored water in the water table. If possible, add cups of snow to the table for the children to spray (or touch, or melt….). Talk about what happens.

Friday Afternoon Science

Outdoors, look at objects outside through sunglasses, colored cellophane, and sheer scarves. Talk about what you see.

Color and Light Week 5 Night and Day

Week 5

Night and Day Material

Vocabulary dark

Flashlight

light

Large piece of paper

sun

Marker

flashlight daytime

Books Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown Sleep Tight, B. G. Hennessy In the Night Kitchen, Maurice Sendak Good Night, Gorilla, Peggy Rathman

morning evening afternoon night nighttime

Friday Afternoon Science

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 5 Night and Day

Science Concepts Addressed In one day, it is light part of the time and dark part of the time. Daylight comes from the sun. When it is dark outside, the sun is not shining on our side of earth.

Learning Goals Children actively participate in a teacher-led Science Cycle, using relevant cognitive and language skills. Children reflect on their own lives and what they do during different times of the day. Children hear the words teachers use to talk about different times of the day. During daylight, the sun is shining on us. During nighttime, the sun is not shining on us.

Ahead of Time

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 5 Night and Day

Using the Science Cycle to teach “Night and Day”

Reflect & Ask Read and talk about: Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown Talk with children about how there are different times of day. Write down the times they suggest (for example, day/night, morning/night, breakfast/lunch/supper, and so forth). Talk about when it is light outside and when it is dark. What do people do after it gets dark in the evening? What do people do when it gets light in the morning? What time of day do children go to school? Some grownups (like teachers) work during daytime. What kind of work sometimes needs to be done at night? (Depending on your students, introduce occupations like firefighters, truck drivers, factory workers, nurses and doctors in hospitals, etc.)

Plan & Predict

How could we make it dark in our room? What will happen if we turn off all the lights? Will it be scary?

Act & Observe Turn off the lights and close the shades to make the room as dark as possible. You may decide to go into a bathroom or closet to get total darkness. What does it feel like? Do you see any light? Where is it coming from? What can you see Turn on the flashlight. Talk about what you can see now. Do things look different? Turn on the lights. Choose one child and have them cover their eyes. Give them an object to feel and ask them to guess what it is. Give each child a turn.

Report & Reflect Where does light come from? Talk with the children about things that give us light. Write their suggestions on easel paper. Examples include sunlight, candles, flashlights, electric lights.

Friday Afternoon Science . Color and Light Week 5 Night and Day

Music This Is The Way We Brush Our Teeth This is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth. This is the way we brush our teeth so early in the morning. (Repeat with other morning tasks, then with nighttime tasks substituting the ending “....before I go to bed”. )

Extend this lesson with other activities Draw pictures of what we do at nigh Paint a night sky with black paint and glitter or aluminum foil for stars Explore the room or a small tent or closet with a flashlight Find all the sources of light in the room (for example, lamps, nightlights, flashlights, refrigerator light) Have a campout: create a tent using a blanket and some chairs. Tell ghost stories or eat “s’mores”. Take a walk outside and talk about the sun, clouds, and shadows.

Friday Afternoon Science

Color and Light Week 6 What Can Light Move Through?

Week 6

What Can Light Move Through?

Vocabulary Flashlight shine light

Material

through block light

Several flashlights

cardboard

four to six-inch squares of plastic wrap

foil

colored cellophane

wax paper

cellophane

foil paper cardboard (Make enough for each pair or small group of children to have one of each.)

Books Little Cloud, Eric Carle

As appropriate, introduce the words transparent/clear, translucent, and opaque. Some children will learn and begin to use these words, others will take longer to learn them. They need to have a firm understanding of the concept before they will learn the word.

Friday Afternoon Science

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 6 What Can Light Move Through?

Science Concepts Addressed Some materials block light and some let it through. Light can shine/move through transparent and translucent materials, but not through opaque materials.

Learning Goals Children actively participate in a teacher-led Science Cycle, using relevant cognitive and language skills. Children actively participate in an investigation of how light travels through different materials. Children are exposed to these words and, at their own pace, acquire the underlying concepts and then the words for these concepts: Transparent /Translucent/Opaque.

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 6 What Can Light Move Through?

Using the Science Cycle to teach “What Can Move Through Light”

Reflect & Ask Read and Talk About: Little Cloud, Eric Carle Talk with the children about these topics and record their answers on easel paper. What happens when a cloud gets in the way of the sunlight? Are there other things that can block light? What happens when you put on sunglasses?

Plan & Predict

Provide these materials to pairs or small groups of children: plastic wrap, cellophane, wax paper, foil paper, cardboard. As they explore the materials, talk with them about how they feel and look. Have a conversation about which of these materials would block the light from a flashlight. For each material, write down their predictions (a quick way to do this is by having the children vote on each item). Encourage the children to talk more about cellophane and wax paper if some think it will block light and others don’t.

Act & Observe Shine the flashlight on a wall. Have a child hold each material in front of the flashlight (to maximize engagement, have different children or pairs of children hold up each material). While the flashlight is shining, talk about whether the light still shines on the wall. Support the children in noticing shadows from opaque materials and color from the cellophane. The opaque materials (cardboard, foil paper) block all the light. This can lead to a conversation about what is shown on the wall – a shadow and some light. If time and interest allow, expand the investigation by moving the cardboard closer/farther away from the flashlight and talking about the differences.

Report & Reflect Talk about why some materials allow the light to go through better than others. Make a chart showing which materials block the light, which let light through completely, which block the light some but not completely. What could we put in front of our windows if we wanted to let a little light through? What if we wanted to block all the light?

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 6 What Can Light Move Through?

Music Weather Finger Play One day the sun was shining bright (hold up right hand for the sun) But some clouds came along and it became black as night (hold up left hand for the clouds) Then the rain began to sprinkle onto the ground (wiggle fingers for the rain coming down) And soon it was raining all over the town. But when the clouds had passed on by (move both hands to the right) A big beautiful rainbow stretched across the sky. (make a rainbow arc over your head with your left hand).

Extend this lesson with other activities Paste pieces of colored cellophane to a piece of paper Make a collage using transparent, translucent, and opaque materials Put colored cellophane over the flashlight and secure with a rubber band. What happened to the light? Try putting two colors together. When the weather cooperates, lie on the ground and watch the sun and clouds and the movement of the clouds. What makes the clouds move? If appropriate, encourage children to talk about the different types of clouds.

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 7 Shadow Play

Week 7

Shadow Play Material Several flashlights paper markers scissor craft sticks glue

Vocabulary Shadow shape puppet big small close near far

Books The Biggest Shadow in the Zoo, Jack Kent Nothing Sticks Like a Shadow, Ann Tompert Dark Shadow, Mary Rhind

Math Talk about and identify shapes. Observe and talk about differences in size.

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 7 Shadow Play

Science Concepts Addressed Shadows are made when something blocks light. When the object is closer to the light, the shadow is larger.

Learning Goals Learn about shadows: how they are made, how their shape can change, how their size can change.

Ahead of Time Draw several outlines of animals and people on pieces of paper and cut them out.

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 7 Shadow Play

Using the Science Cycle to teach “Shadow Play”

Reflect & Ask Read and talk about: Bear Shadow, Frank Asch Where do we find shadows? Can we make a shadow indoors?

Plan & Predict

What will we need to make a shadow? What color will it be? Will it be big or little? Write down suggestions and predictions on easel paper.

Act & Observe Darken the room, or go into a dark closet or bathroom. Shine a flashlight on a wall. You could try this on the refrigerator or on the ceiling too. Make a shadow with your hands. Have the children make some shadows with their bodies. Have the children choose a cut-out picture and help them glue it to a craft stick to make a shadow puppet. When the puppets are dry, have the children hold their puppets in front of the light to make shadows. Try moving the puppets sideways to see if the shape of the shadow changes.

Report & Reflect Compare what you found out to the predictions made earlier. What happens to the shadow if you move your puppet close to the light? Far from the light?

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 7 Shadow Play

Music

Play “Simon Says” Play “Follow the Leader”

Extend this lesson with other activities Draw children’s silhouettes: Have a child sit on a chair next to a wall. Tape a piece of black paper on the wall behind the child’s face. Shine a bright light on the child’s face so the shadow shows up on the paper and trace the shadow with a pencil. Cut out the child’s silhouette. Have children move their bodies to make shadows. Look around the classroom to find shadows. Use flashlights in the classroom to make shadows. Go outdoors and find shadows. Look at the sun to see where the sun is coming from to make a shadow. Have the children make shadows. Teach them how to play Shadow-Tag.

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 8 Bouncing Light

Week 8

Bouncing Light

Vocabulary bounce

Material Bouncing balls

mirror light beam

mirrors flashlights

Books Moongame, Frank Asch The Science Book of Light, Neil Ardley Shadows Here, There, and Everywhere, Ron Goor Mirror, Alexandra Day

Math Notice and talk about the angles of bouncing light.

reflect smooth shiny

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 8 Bouncing Light

Science Concepts Addressed When light hits an object, it bounces back. That is how we can see what color an object is. For example, if sunlight hits yellow flowers, then the yellow light bounces back to our eyes. But if the same sunlight hits blue flowers, then it is the blue light that bounces back. When light hits a mirror, most of the light bounces back. When the direction this light comes from changes, so does the direction of the light bouncing back.

Learning Goals Light bounces off a mirror like the way that a ball bounces off the floor. A mirror reflects light because its surface is smooth and shiny. By observing the teacher and then making their own investigations, children will observe how light “bounces back” or “reflects” from mirrors. They will develop a limited but age-appropriate understanding that “the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection.”

Ahead of Time Ahead of time: Young children may never have had a chance to play with mirrors or flashlights, so introduce these a few days ahead of this activity and then put them out in the classroom where children can play with and become familiar with them. Even work with small groups to encourage this exploration. Otherwise, children will be investigating the materials instead of participating in the science investigation.

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 8 Bouncing Light

Using the Science Cycle to teach “Bouncing Light”

Reflect & Ask Read and talk about: Moongame, Frank Asch What do we use a mirror for? What does a mirror feel like? What do you think a mirror is made of?

Plan & Predict

What might happen when we shine a flashlight on a mirror?

Act & Observe We are going to make light bounce just like a ball. Bounce the ball to a child and have the child bounce it back. Can you make it bounce high? Low? Far? Now you are going to make light bounce. Turn off the lights or go into a dark room. Set the mirror on the floor. Have two children stand on opposite sides of the mirror. Give one child the flashlight and have her shine it on the mirror. What happened? Have the children take two steps back. Have the other child shine the light on the mirror. What happened? Have the children try shining the light directly down on the mirror. What happens?

Report & Reflect Write down highpoints of the discussion that takes place when the children are asked these questions: Why did the light bounce off the mirror? How is light bouncing like balls bouncing? What else can light bounce off of? Did you ever see your reflection in water?

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 8 Bouncing Light

Music Give each child a small mirror when you introduce this song. “I Am Special” (tune of Frere Jacques) I am special, I am special If you look, you will see Someone very special, someone very special Yes, it's me! Yes, it's me! (If the teacher wants to, this can be expanded into a round

Extend this lesson with other activities Show the children photographs of reflections. For example, geese or ducks on water, trees next to a lake, and so forth. Talk about these. (If your students are interested, you can also photographs of shadows and talk about the differences between reflections and shadows.) Fold a piece of paper in half and make a crease. Open up the paper and put paint on one side then fold the other side onto the wet paint to create a mirror image. Talk about how this happened. Put a mirror on the crease and see if it makes the same reflection as on the other side of the paper. Talk about the differences between dull and shiny. Compare wax paper and foil, compare wax paper and newspaper, compare foil and a mirror. For each pair, which is duller, which is shinier? Make a collage using dull and shiny materials Find objects around school that reflect light. Consider mirrors, spoons, metal trays, and so forth. Using a very large, shiny spoon, look at the reflection from each side. How are they the same and how are they different? Add a full-length mirror (you can get plastic ones that hang on the back of a door) to the classroom. After children have had enough time to try out this mirror, talk about the things they might be used for. Invite children, especially those who like to play “dress-up,” to look into a small mirror (several inches), a medium size mirror (like over a sink, if the classroom has a bathroom) and the full- length mirror. Encourage the children to talk about how the reflections are different and to talk about what each mirror might be “best” for.

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 9 Water Magnifiers

Week 9

Water Magnifiers Material

Vocabulary

Zip-close bags, water, magnifying glasses,

Magnifying glass tool through

a variety of objects to look at (newspaper,

larger

leaves, twigs, orange peel, and so forth).

smaller

Books Light, Samantha Berger Color and Light, David Evans & Claudette Williams Day Light, Night Light, Franklyn Branley Darkness and the Butterfly, Ann Grifalconi

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 9 Water Magnifiers

Science Concepts Addressed Different types of lenses let our eyes to see things differently. Some lenses make things look larger.

Learning Goals Notice that things look differently depending on the situation. Learn that magnifying glasses make things look bigger and that water can sometimes act like a magnifying glass.

Ahead of Time

Ahead of time: Put some unusual objects in the water table and support children in noticing how they look the same and different in the water and out of the water.

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 9 Water Magnifiers

Using the Science Cycle to teach “Water Magnifier”

Reflect & Ask Read and talk about: Light, Samantha Berger What happens when you look at something that is underwater? How does it look? What happens when you put your finger in a glass of water?

Plan & Predict

What will happen when we put water in a bag? What will it look like if we look through the bag?

Act & Observe Give each child a cup with some water. Have them put their finger in the water. What does it look like? Try it with some other objects, like a straw, a penny, etc. Give each child a zip-close bag. Help them fill the bags with water and seal tightly. Have the children look through the bag at a friend’s face. What do you see? Show the children a magnifying glass. What do you think will happen when we look through it? Allow the children to explore a variety of materials with the magnifying glasses. What do you see?

Report & Reflect Why does the bag of water make things look larger? What other materials that we look through can make things look different?

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 9 Water Magnifiers

Music

This Little Light of Mine This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine

Extend this lesson with other activities Glitter bottles: Fill a clear plastic bottle with water and put some glitter inside. Put the cap on the bottle and shake. Look at objects through a variety of materials (magnifying glass, cellophane, goggles, sunglasses, etc.) Put a variety of objects into the water table and talk about how they look. Give each child a magnifying glass to use as you go on a walk. Use binoculars if you have them. Talk about how the magnifying glass and binoculars are the same and different.

Friday Afternoon Science

Color and Light Week 10 Shadow Theater

Week 10

Shadow Theater Material Large cardboard box strong scissors

Vocabulary Stage shadows

large piece of paper

show

paper towel

light

salad oil

dark

stapler

puppets

strong electric light

Books The Shape of Things, Dayle Ann Dodds Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll Never Guess, Fiona Dunbar Light and Dark, Sally Hewitt Science with Light and Mirrors, Kate Woodward

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 10 Shadow Theater

Science Concepts Addressed When objects block strong light, they make shadows. The shape of the shadow depends on the angle of the shape. The size of the shadow depends on how far away the light is from the shape.

Learning Goals This activity is designed to encourage children to investigate relations between light, shadows, and shapes. They will not immediately learn the science concepts listed above. However, by using light and shadows to create a puppet show, they are having experiences that help them represent and talk about the concepts.

Ahead of Time

Create small puppets by cutting out simple shapes and people and gluing them to craft sticks. The teacher could do this, or the children could do it the day before.

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 10 Shadow Theater

Using the Science Cycle to teach “Shadow Theater”

Reflect & Ask The Shape of Things, Dayle Ann Dodds Can you recognize what something is by looking at its shadow? What shape would a ball’s shadow be? What about a box? What about a crayon?

Plan & Predict

What shapes will our puppets’ shadows be? What kind of show could we put on?

Act & Observe To make the stage: take a large cardboard box (with no top) and cut a large opening in the bottom. Using a paper towel, rub salad oil onto a large piece of paper to make it translucent (or use tracing paper). Tape the paper over the opening of the box from the inside. Put the stage (paper facing front) on a table. Light the stage from behind using a strong electric light, or shine a flashlight at the stage from behind. Have two children kneel behind the stage. Use your puppets to put on a show or act out a story.

Report & Reflect How could we make our puppets’ shadows bigger or smaller? How could we make them different colors?

Friday Afternoon Science Color and Light Week 10 Shadow Theater

Music

Do you know what shape this is? (Tune: The Muffin Man) Do you know what shape this is? What shape this is? What shape this is? Do you know what shape this is, I'm holding in my hand? (Then call a child to name the shape.)

Extend this lesson with other activities Decorate our puppets Create invitations and tickets to the puppet theater show Use flashlights and colored cellophane to explore the room Guess objects by their shadows Show children some simple ways they can hold their hands to make shadows. Have pairs of children work together to make shadow-shapes with their hands and with their bodies.

Friday Afternoon Science

About the Developer Lucia French, PhD Lucia French is the creative and academic force behind the development of ScienceStart! She has deep knowledge of child development and has hands-on experience working with teachers and children. French is a developmental psychologist specializing in young children’s language and intellectual development. As a Spencer Fellow of the National Academy of Education (1985 – 1988) she investigated the impact of the physical and intellectual environment on development. As a Fulbright Research Fellow (1992 – 1995) she observed preschool classrooms in South Korea and concluded that a primary reason Korean children learn to read relatively easily is because of the emphasis in the culture and in the preschools on developing listening comprehension skills. This finding has been incorporated into the design of the ScienceStart! classroom materials.

Teaching science with ScienceStart! Language, literacy, and mathematics flow naturally from hands-on science, which is the activity of learning about the everyday world. Learning about the everyday world is as fundamental to the early childhood years as learning to walk, talk, and interact with others. With ScienceStart, children build a rich knowledge base that supports further learning. Preschool children can do science. In fact, “doing science” fits the way children learn. It is crucial that children carry out these activities themselves. The goals of science learning in early childhood are to explore, build concepts, and build vocabulary to communicate these concepts. There is an emphasis on trial and error rather than on “right answers,” teachers do not need to “know all the answers”. Teachers do need to help children ask questions and discover for themselves.